Love in the Darkness
by ABleakMidwintersDay
Summary: When his life is ruined, Humphrey must find out who is responsible and make them pay. With two new friends beside him, he learns to cherish every moment and not to expect anything he doesn't earn himself... especially love.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey readers! This is my first story to be posted here on FanFic... Or anywhere for that matter. Any reviews and criticism are appreciated. I am not an experienced writer so I would very much like to be told if I am making a mistake; this way I can stop it from happening in the future. Also, at anytime during the story feel free to PM me about adding to the story plot or adding characters. Anyway, Disclaimer: I don't own alpha and omega characters or any part of A&O. Everyone in my story is a human but retain their most distinct traits like hair/eye color, just with my own flare. Please enjoy!...

Humphrey's POV

I'm running blindly through the dark, moonlit forest trying to escape everything I knew in life. Pouring rain runs down my face and into my eyes so that I can barely see where i am going. I'm cold and soaked to the bone as I run through mud and around trees.

'I can't believe this happened!' I think to myself. I use my hand to wipe the tears off my face without stopping. 'One minute I was having the time of my life, and then it was all snatched away in less than a second!'

As I'm running, I feel a sense of weightlessness and realize at I have just run off of a small ledge of 5-7 feet. I try to prepare myself for the impact but the ground is sloped and muddy so I end up tumbling end over end down a hill.

When I finally stopped, I had hit something hard and rough. My grey hair is now caked with mud. I lay there waiting for the pain to subside before I open my eyes. My face is pressed against the pavement of some road. Maybe a mile away I can see the lights of what looks to be civilization. I slowly bring myself to a standing position and start to walk to the distant lights.

One mile later:

I find myself starring at the most beautiful sight I have seen in the last 4 hours: McDonalds. Wet and muddy as I am I go inside and pull out my wallet to see I have at least $20. 'Good enough for now.' I think sadly.

The cashier was a decent looking brunet who had her back to me as she joked around with a fellow employee. The second employee was a guy with a shaved head. They were both laughing at something the girl had said. The man stopped laughing when he saw me.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked sarcastically. Then she said in a frightened voice, "Oh no! Don't tell me there's someone or something behind me!" She laughed at this. "You won't get me THAT easy." She turned and was visibly frightened when she saw me.

While the girl tried to calm herself down, the man with the shaved head quickly picked up were his friend left off. "Welcome to McDonalds, how can I help you?" He said trying not to stare at me.

I was looking at the menu when I noticed how hungry I was. I combated my hunger by ordering 2 BigMacs with a large drink and fries. Once I had my food and a seat, I took a long satisfying drink of my "suicide". It's something my dad and I made up one day. Basically you mix every soda at the fountain thing into one new soda. It's really good and I suggest you try it. My dad and I always made a small ceremony out of the drink. I start to tear up when I think of my dad... Then as quickly as they had come I wiped my face and they were gone.

I tore into my first BigMac and its gone in seconds. Before I could get halfway through my second Mac, I saw something, or rather someone, amazing and unforgettable...

Lilly's POV 4 hours earlier

I was watching the news that night with my sister Kate beside me and became very sad. Someone's house had burned down very close to our house. The news reporter had said there were four bodies and no survivors. They did say that one person of the family of five was missing and that police wanted him found for questioning.

"Can you imagine that?" My sister Kate asked. She had long blonde hair with streaks of golden brown mixed in, as well as golden brown eyes. "Such a terrible way to go..." Her voice trailed off as she thought.

"I wonder where that guy they're looking for is. Do you think he did it Kate?" I ask my sister with a hint of questioning in my voice. I move my white as snow hair out of my left eye and look at the picture that the cops are showing. 'Damn, he's kinda hot...' I think to myself.

She sighs heavily, "I don't know to be honest. It seems very likely that he could have done it, but I'm not sure..." Doubt was creeping into her voice as she spoke.

I looked at the clock on our wall. It said 7:34. I got up and decided to talk to Eve and Winston, our mom and dad, about the fire and the lives it had claimed. I stopped by the bathroom for a moment and looked in the mirror at my violet eyes that I hated. "Can't you just be normal?" I interrogate my own reflection. When it doesn't give me an answer I just scowl, walk away, and whisper quietly, "Didn't think so..." as a tear forms and runs down my face.

I recover my composure before I reach my parents bedroom. As I approach the door I can hear my mother sobbing even though she is obviously trying to hide it. I can hear my dad speaking to her, trying to soothe the worry from his frightened wife. As I get to the door I peak into the room and see my dad stroking my mothers brown hair as she cries on his shoulder. Then my mother starts to talk and I pick up "... were safe and now look! I knew we should have kept moving! Just look at what they did to...to..." She cuts off as the sobs take over again. I retreat from the bedroom door and head back to the living room to talk with Kate.

"Have you noticed anything off about mom before tonight?" I ask her with a sense of urgency in my voice.

She picks up on it and says "No, why? When did she start acting off?" The look on her face is one of complete confusion and wonder.

"I just went back to talk to her and dad and she was crying uncontrollably!" There is a worrying tone to my voice as our mom was the type who would kill anyone who so much as looked at her wrong "Something has to be extremely out of place for her to break down like that! Right?!"

Kate began to get a look of deep concentration on her face as she tried to get a grip on the situation at hand. "I think..."

"Girls!" Their father called from his bedroom. "We need you to get in here now. No questions got it?" The tone in his voice confirmed my suspicions that something was up.

As we entered the room I noticed two large suitcases that each looked like they could hold mine or Kate's entire wardrobe. Winston points at the suitcases and says "Pack everything you can that is essential. No time for questions GO! Bring the cases here when your ready."

As I took a suitcase to my room I tried to think. 'Why would they want us to pack? And why didn't they have any suitcases?' I finished putting the last of my clothes in the suitcase and had plenty of room to spare. I left my room just after Kate passed my door heading to our parents room.

Kate gasped when she entered our parents room and took a step back in fear. Winston started say "It's ok, just come in here so I can... explain..." I could hear something like deep regret in his voice. As I stepped into the room, I was defiantly frightened like Kate had been.

Winston had a 12 gauge leaning against the bed. He reached under the bed and fumbled with something until we heard a click. He then pushed the mattress and it moved like it was on wheels. Underneath the mattress is what looks to be a safe of some sort that has been made to look like part of the bed. He punched in a combination and opened the safe . What I saw has left me shocked to this day...

AN: well how was that for a first chapter? Please tell me how you felt about it in the reviews or just PM me! Either one works. If you have a story idea or character suggestions, then PM me. I plan to make a new chapter every few days so don't worry if I don't upload for a while. Until next time then!


	2. Chapter 2: Cats out of the Bag

AN: hey everybody I'm back! First off I'm sorry for posting a blank chapter if anyone caught that... Anyway! Welcome to chapter two of Love in the Darkness! I just finished and posted chapter 1 and am starting this chapter while the ideas are fresh. Thank you Rhykon the Wolf Soldier for being my first review! :D Now back to the story. I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but Humphrey is 19 as well as Kate. Lilly is 18 going on 19. Now then, questions! What's in the mattress safe? Who did Humphrey see at McDonalds? And, probably the most important question... will Humphrey ever finish his second BigMac?! All these questions will be answered! Just as well, new questions will arise! Now let's get started...

Humphrey's POV present time

She had white hair with bangs that hid her left eye from view. The rest of her hair was cut at shoulder length and was freely roaming around her. That's not what caught my eye though... My eyes were immediately drawn to hers. They are a beautiful shade of violet. I couldn't help but stare as she walked into the building. Her eyes met mine for a split second before I looked down at my food blushing.

I nervously look back at her and she's still looking at me. She gets an expression that I can only think of as one deep in thought. Another girl who appears to be older comes up behind her. This girl has longer blonde hair that had bits of brown streaks in it. Her eyes were the color of honey. They both just looked at me as they started talking to each other in hushed voices and pointing at me slightly.

Instead of waiting for them to stop talking, I get up and calmly walk towards them. The girl with the beautiful eyes looked at me with a look of... A look of what? It seemed to be something between being slightly frightened by my appearance, (as I am still covered in dry mud), and also very relieved, whatever that may be called. The blonde stepped between me and the white haired girl.

"Whoa there what do think your doing?" she said. I immediately picked up on the hostility and the underlaying threat in her voice. She was glaring at me while the other girl was looking me up and down with the same look on her face as before.

I stopped five feet away and looked at the odd pair. They looked... Familiar...

Lilly's POV 3 hours earlier

Under the mattress the bed was hallow and filled to the brim with an assortment of weapons and ammo. Having played Call Of Duty a few times with a friend, I recognized some of them: Ak-47's, Mini Uzi's, a Barrett .50 cal, and many more I don't recognize.

"Looks like the cats out of the bag huh?" Winston said as he gave us a slow, sad smile. "I used to be a mercenary for a private military company along with the man who died in that fire. He was my partner and we became life long friends. We did a lot of things I'm not proud of though and now I have to accept what's coming..." He got a pained look and turned so that we couldn't see him wipe a tear from his face. As he turned back to us he spoke "You all need to get out of here as fast as possible... If they found that I had a family..." He stopped, I knew he was losing his composure and that he wanted... no, needed to come across as strong for his family. " I WON'T let any of them lay a finger on either of you. Your mother refuses to leave me much as I begged her so it looks as if you two will be on your own for a time..."

He reached into his small arsenal and pulled out 3 Beretta M9's, one of which looked slightly different. Then he proceeded to open each of our suit cases, Kate's then mine, and opened a pocket that I had not even seen on the inside of the lid. Here, he placed one M9 in each suitcase. " I pray that you will never have to use these and that someday you will forget that they even exist..." He looked us both in the eyes and said " I'm sorry that I have to pass my burden to you... I thought it was all over. I was wrong, DEAD wrong." He said with a close.

Winston then took the third, different looking M9 and put it in a some sort of holster. It looked as if it would fit perfectly under someone's arm, hidden from view but easily accessed. He then took the holster and placed it in a small black box. "Find the boy who survived the fire. Do what ever it takes. Give him this, it's one of his fathers old pistols, as those two," he pointed at out suitcases, " are mine."

I noticed Kate was crying and it wasn't until that point that I realized... so was I. We ran up and embraced our dad as the tears came. He hugged just as hard if not harder than we did. Then he spoke, " You both to need to be strong. For yourselves and for each other. The road ahead will be hard. I can't tell you what's coming, if I knew I would. You will be hurt along this journey. Whether it be physical or emotional I do not know. Just... prepare your selves."

We sat in silence until our mother came out of the bathroom. She had lines running down her face from tears but looked as if she had pretty much calmed down. "Take the van out back... It... " she was about to cry again but managed to hold back and continue "it has everything that you need. It's in the second garage."

Our house had two garages, the main one with a Ford F-150 and a Ford Escape, as well as a second. Kate and I had never been inside the second garage, but when we were younger, we tried for days on end to get in. The door leading into the garage had a pass code lock that we could never crack.

My mother started to take off her necklace, she had been wearing it ever sense my dad gave it to her right before Kate and I were born. Kate had always asked why she wore it, saying "It's not stylish! Here wear this one!" Then she would press some other necklace in her hands. Mom would always just say thank you and then hang the new necklace with all the others Kate have given her. I found them once and asked mom about them. She said something about that she promised my dad to always wear this necklace no matter what, which is why she didn't wear the others. She walked up to me and handed me the necklace. "Use this to get into the garage, it's like a key. Place it in the screw on the left side. Then get out of here ok?" She smiled slowly as a tear ran down her face. She kissed me and Kate goodbye then went to the bed a grabbed the last remaining M9.

We left for the garage as our parents stood in a very emotional silence that spoke much more than any amount of words could. As we opened the garage, we finally get to see what's been hiding in the garage for all these years...


	3. Chapter 3: Fire? What Fire?

AN: Well... Here again I guess. Once again, I have JUST finished posting the last chapter as I am writing this opening. So far my mind is blowing up with ideas which is normally good, but for now I find it hard to pick which ones to use. So lets just jump right into it yes?...

Lilly's POV 1 hour earlier

Leaving was easier than I thought. I guess I was just to tired to cry anymore. We packed our things into a white van that resembled the ones FedEx uses. Dad said that all the walls were re-enforced steel, and that the windows were all bullet proofed. I gave my parents one last embrace and put all of my love for them into it.

We hopped in the van before we could change our minds about leaving. I leaned out the window as we pulled down the driveway to see that my parents are watching us leave... The pain on they're faces in that moment, hurt more than the fact that we might never see them again...

We didn't talk as Kate drove us further and further from the only place I had even known as home... I pulled my knees up to my chest with my feet on the seat and cried. Quietly at first, but then my sister put her hand on my shoulder and it all came out like water rushing from a dam. She pulled the van onto the side of the road as she turned on the hazard lights. We sat there for at least 20 minutes crying, trying to comfort the other with thoughts of everything turning out ok.

When we finally recovered from our break down, Kate asked me if I was hungry. "Yea." I responded weakly.

"Where do you want to go?" She was holding back sobs, trying, as hard as I was, to continue holding her composure.

"Something quick like fast food. I don't want to be in somewhere to long." In reality I just wanted something to get my mind off of today's events.

About ten minutes later we are pulling into a McDonalds. Kate parks the car and says something about her hanging back for a second. I knew that she wanted to be left alone so I hopped out and walked into the building.

As I opened the second door, a wave of air greeted my face warmly. I smile despite the circumstances. I scan the seats and notice only one person. He has mud covering most of his body and appears to be soaked. I met his eyes and he looked away quickly. I notice him blush and try to suppress a giggle. Then I noticed something else. Although he seems to be late teens or early twenties, he has grey hair. I looked at his face again and realized who I was looking at...

He resumed looking at me like his eyes were glued to me. I've never had someone look at me like that. It felt... good, not creepy like I thought it might. His sea blue eyes seemed to shift colors between greenish and back to blue. I found myself enthralled by his eyes. It was as if our eyes were such strong magnets they couldn't be separated. My sister chose that exact moment to come follow me in and I managed to look away.

"Kate" I started, " look over there. Doesn't he look familiar?" I pointed out the mud covered man. Kate looked at him with a look of concentration.

"Not really, why?" Her voice contradicted her words though. I could tell she was starting to remember. "No... That can't be him..." She started to catch on to what I had just suggested. "He has grey hair remember!?"

I got annoyed at this and said "Are you blind? He's covered in mud! Look by his ear, some of his hair is visible." She did as i asked and her eyes told me she saw it. "Now tell me that's not the same grey hair!"

"Ok" she consented " yes he has grey hair, but that still doesn't prove anything! Lets just be cautious ok?" She had a hint of worry in her voice.

All of a sudden, the guy, man, whatever, got up and started to walk straight at us. Kate's body stiffened at this and when he was about 7 feet away moved in front of me and said "Whoa there what do you think your doing?" There was a threat in that sentence that even the dead could have heard.

He took one more step and continued to look at us obviously deep in thought. "I might ask you the same thing considering you won't stop staring and pointing at me" he matched Kate's hostility and even made her flinch with just the tone of his voice. He definitely seemed ready to beat the living day lights out of someone if he had too.

Before either could say anything else, I stepped between them and played mediator. I looked at him, "We didn't mean to upset you." I gave him my best can you forgive me face and he blushed again, but still looked upset at Kate's reaction.

I continued where I left off. "Your names... Humphrey right?" His eyes got big when he heard his name and he took a step back.

"Who are you?!" he practically snarled at them. The fear was gone from his eyes and now was replaced by an anger that I could almost feel radiating off his body. His body language went from relaxed to 'I'm gonna kill you in about .5 seconds'. Kate and I had to act quick before this got out of hand.

"My name is Lilly and this is Kate." Then I brought my voice to a whisper, "We know you didn't start that fire. We can help you."

His face drew a blank when I mentioned the fire...

AN: well how was that? Please review and favorite! I plan to have chapter 4 up by Monday but you know... stuff might happen. Oh and by the way, are any of you PSN players out there? I'm just wondering because most everyone I know uses Xbox live. Anyway, so ya Monday should be the latest that I post the next chapter. :D till next time!

-C. aka: ABleakMidwintersDay


	4. Chapter 4: Horible Memories

AN: Finally! I'm back to writing. Im on way to my mothers house as i am writing this so i cant post if i finish it at her house, as she has no internet. So, far we know that Lilly's father worked with Humphrey's. As an added bonus, our characters finally met. Though what's with Humphrey's face of confusion? Will we ever find out exactly what's happening?! Maybe, maybe not. Guess you just have to trust me when I say to stick along for the ride! Also: this chapter WILL BE VIOLENT! (Scene of blood and stuff) If you do not wish to read that part, then skip the "Humphrey's POV 6 hours earlier" section. And join back in after that. I will surmise what happened in the AN's of the next chapter. I apologize for any inconvenience but I do not what to rate this whole story M because of one chapter. :( ONE more thing. I have noticed my chapters getting shorter. I plan to change that starting with this chapter. So... Um... Ya enjoy! :D

Humphrey's POV

My mind raced. How do they know me? Just WHO are they? I couldn't think straight as my brain gave me all the possibilities... Then the first girl started to talk again.

"My name is Lilly and this is Kate." She said. "We know you didn't start that fire. We can help you."

Two million thoughts fought for attention in my mind. Fire? What fire? I had no clue what she was talking about. I couldn't help it: my reaction to the 'fire' comment told her everything.

"Oh my God... You don't know do you?" She got a look of concern on her face. " We have to tell him." She turned to the other girl as she said this.

"No." Was the only response the blonde offered. Lilly, I think that was her name, was immediately angered and started to protest. "He needs to know! If you don't start talking I'll tell him myself!" Kate's(?) answer was just silence. "Fine then."

Still Humphrey's POV 15 minutes, 3 large drink refills, and 2 double quarters pounders later.

When Lilly finished her story, I calmly looked her in the eye, sighed, and got up to leave. I couldn't begin to convince myself that what she was saying about my house being burned to a cinder and everyone dying in the blaze being true. That's not what happened, she didn't see what I did. I was halfway to the door when a hand grabbed my wrist. I stiffened and resisted the urge to turn around swinging. I turned and saw Lilly's eyes looking up at mine, they had tears streaming out of them as if she felt betrayed that I didn't believe her account of the past four hours. I got her to release her grip on my wrist, led her back to the table, sat her down next to her sister and took a seat across from them.

"Wether or not there was a fire, they didn't die like that..." I said beginning to relive that horrible... disturbing moment a few hours ago... " this is how they died... Or at least what I saw."

Humphrey's POV 6 hours ago.

I remember walking through the woods behind my house with my friends Salty, Shaky, and Mooch. We were just coming back from a night of lighting fire crackers off far enough into the woods so know one could hear us. I recall the usual ritual of friendly insults as we said our goodbyes to each other.

I came into view of my house and could tell something was wrong almost immediately. The back door was on its hinges, and there was glass all over the back porch of the small two story house. I ran to the shed and grabbed the 18 inch machete I keep there, it was a birthday present from my dad for my seventeenth birthday. It's not a gun like I would have favored but its better than nothing. As I walk into the house I see that its been ransacked. Every step I take has me walking on glass from broken picture frames and mirrors. I carefully walked to the steps, trying to avoid stepping on the smiling faces of my family, and walked upstairs.

I opened my younger brothers room and only saw destruction. The scene was the same in my sisters room. I looked at my parents room and noticed the was red seeping through the bottom of the door by way of the carpet. Machete raised above my head I try to open the door but find its locked. I brace myself and kick the door twice. Nothing happens but I know the door is weaker. I decide to ram it this time. I took a few steps back, charged, broke down the door, and almost vomited right then and there.

My mother, sister, and brother had been put up against a wall and had been shot in the back of their heads. While trying to keep from fainting I looked to the opposite side of the room and saw my dad.

They had beaten him to near death. I could hear the slightest sounds of life coming from him. I tried to wake him up. Gently at first, then I started to shake him, crying the entire time, begging that he be ok.

Finally he stirred and looked at me. After a moment of confusion he seemed to remember what had happened. He looked at me with a sad smile and grabbed my hand. " Make me proud." He coughed up blood and tried to bring back the smile. "Don't let them win..." And with a note of finality " i love you son" Then he just looked into my eyes with a sad smile on his lips. I stared back for three minutes before I realized... He's dead...

I dropped my fathers already cold hand and backed away from my his lifeless body as I stumbled out of the room. I forgot to look away from the horror in the room and tripped down the stairs. As I picked myself up off the floor, I started to shuffle out to the back door not realizing that I stepped on a picture of my smiling family. When my foot came off the picture, there was a bloody boot print covering most of the photo. I proceeded to sit in front of the ruined door. I couldn't even cry. When you see your entire family dead before your eyes, your supposed to be devastated... I only felt hollow. Then it slowly built to anger, then I just didn't feel anything. I knew I needed to get away so I got up and walked toward the woods. I gave my home one last look before I went into the forest... Never wanting to come back...

Eventually, I broke out into a run. Tears streaming down my face as I tried to collect my thoughts. Sometime during my run it started pour, almost as if the clouds felt my sorrow and cried all of the tears my body could never fully get out.

Lilly's POV

I was tearing up well before he mentioned the pouring rain. I saw Kate was trying to keep a steady expression but she was having trouble. I kept trying to say something but the words kept getting caught in my throat. After ten minutes of awkward silence, Kate said "We need to get moving, will you come with us? We can help each other." While her face was stern, her voice was pleading him to come.

Humphrey sat there for a minute. "Yes." Kate and I almost screamed in pure happiness. "But," Our similes faltered. "I drive. I have something to take care of if I want to grant my dads last desire."

With that, we left McDonalds with Humphrey driving, Kate in the back, and me in the passengers seat. Humphrey had a death grip on the steering wheel as we drove back to our old neighborhood. We pulled up a few blocks from the wreckage of his house, where Humphrey told us to 'wait here'. Kate and I just sat where we were, while an unnatural silence filled the van.

About fifteen minutes later we heard gunshots, then Humphrey came running back to the van covered in sweat, panting, and carrying some sort of box with him.

Humphrey's POV fifteen minute earlier.

As I parked the van, I told the girls to wait in the van. I headed through someone's yard toward the woods, going far enough into the woods so that I could see the houses, but people inside couldn't see me unless they already knew I was there. I checked my watch, 12:56.

I started walking to my house. As it came into view, I got that hollow feeling again. Hearing that my house had been burnt to the ground was shocking. Seeing it? There are no words to describe the feelings that coursed through me body. I couldn't get to the house itself on account of the police tape everywhere. Quietly as I could, I worked my way to the shed. My dad always told me that if something were to every happen to him, to get the grey case out of the shed and to follow the steps inside.

It took me a good minute to find it. It was about a foot and a half long, and a foot deep and a deep grey color. I knelt down and went to open it.

Before I could, I heard something. Almost like someone walking across ashes. With the box in hand, I looked at the remains of my house. Someone was walking towards me wearing a trench coat we their hands in their pockets.

He took out his hands and reached into the left side of their coat. My eyes grew wide as I realized what he was doing. Time seemed to move in slow-mo as I got up and starting running towards the woods. I had just gotten to the tree line as a small tree seemed to explode right next to me. I looked back and saw he was carrying a Desert Eagle... Aimed right at my head of course.

Doing the only thing I could think of, I just kept running back to the van as fast as I could. I heard another two or three gunshots behind me. It didn't hit me how heavy the box was till I came into view of the van. As soon as I saw it, the box seemed to triple in weight. I managed to hop into the van and place the box between me and Lilly. She had a frightened look on her face when she saw me. It was easy to guess she had heard the gunshots. In fact, I could already hear police sirens in the distance.

I drove out of the neighborhood as fast as I could without attracting attention...

AN: so what does everyone think of the story so far? I would really appreciate some reviews so I know how I'm doing! Well I got to go to the gym now so I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Also: I'm willing to use anyone's OC's so if you want to see one of your OC's in this story then PM me and we can talk about it!


	5. Chapter 5: No More Nightmares

AN: I think it has been two days since I last posted... I haven't been able to figure out how to proceed with the storyline until now. If I can get my mind rolling again, then I should be able to continue making this story without a hitch. I am still accepting plot suggestions, so if you have an idea you think would be a good addition to the story, PM me the idea and I will think about it. (As for the last chapter (for anyone who skipped the blood scene), Humphrey walked into his houses to find it ransacked and his family murdered. At that point, the house had not been burned down yet, indicating the fire was a cover-up.) Now, back to the story...

Humphrey's POV

We decided to find a hotel at least an hour away as a precaution. After about an hour and a half, we found a small motel and thought it suitable. I rented a room for the night with credit card that Kate had given me. She had said that her father wanted her to give it to me. As I wrapped up at the front desk, the girls came in with the rest of our stuff. I noticed that they were struggling with two very large suitcases and took them both to help out. When we approached our door I gave Kate the key and she opened the door for Lilly and I to come in. The room had a small bathroom with a shower right next to the door as you walk in. Further into the room, are two queen sized beds with a tv facing them.

After setting down our stuff and inspecting our room, I went back to the van and brought in the box that my dad had left for me.

I got back to the room where I saw that Kate and Lilly had been kind enough to share a bed so I could have my own. I took off my shirt but kept on my pants, as I had no change of clothes with me, and crawled into bed.

As soon as I hit the bed a fell into a terrible sleep. I dreamed that I was my dad as a group of men with masks murdered my family. Then they proceeded to beat me, laughing the whole time. I kept trying to hit one of them, any of them, but my blows seemed to go right through them. I was terrified at my lack of control. Then all of a sudden, it all went away. All of the hurt and pain of that dream seemed to vanish and I was able to sleep peacefully.

Lilly's POV

Kate and I had already gotten to bed before Humphrey got back. Unlike Kate though, I didn't fall asleep right away. I heard Humphrey get back and crawl into the bed next to mine. After about thirty minutes of trying to sleep, I got up and went to the bathroom, washed my face and once again stared at myself, angry at my what I looked like.

After starring at myself for a while, I heard something coming from the beds. As I looked out of the bathroom, I noticed Humphrey was groaning as he tossed and turned on the bed, it was easy to tell something was wrong. Quietly, I walked over to the bed in my pajamas and sat down next to him as I started rubbing between his bare shoulders. After a while he calmed down and seemed to stop having the nightmare that I was sure he was having. I stayed where I was and kept rubbing just to be sure for a few minutes. I started to take a closer look at him. 'He's handsome, no way to deny it. I wonder what he's like...' I thought as I kept looking at him. He had a skinny, tall build, but was well muscled. His grey hair, which could have really looked bad on almost everyone else in the world, worked perfectly for him. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, I was wrapped in a blanket on Humphrey's bed, with the sun rising past the window.

Humphrey's POV middle of the night.

When I woke up, it was still dark, and I was dimly aware of something on my back. Turning my head, I saw that Lilly had fallen asleep sitting on my bed. She was slumped over and part of her was leaning on me. I looked up at her beautiful face and sighed. ' No way am I going to wake her up...' Carefully as I could, I got out of bed and gently picked her up. Holding her with one arm, I pulled back the blankets, carefully laid her on my bed, as Kate had taken over the other bed, and tucked her in. She looked even more beautiful when she was sleeping, if that was even possible. I longed to get to know her.

I took a pillow off Lilly's bed that wasn't being used, and curled up on the floor between the bed and the tv, waiting for sleep to take me.

AN: a short chapter I know. I was discussing this story with a friend today and he said I should end the chapter here. So that's what I'm going to do because I would like to have an entire day in the next chapter, instead of 9 hours in five chapters again. I think I dragged that out into to many chapters. I'm thinking that I should have combined the first two chapters together, and then chapters 3 & 4 together as well making more story per chapter.. Moving on, as suggested by this chapter, the story will be moving into the romance area soon. I already have a ton of ideas, all of which stay within the T rating. Wrapping things up, I NEED more reviews if I am to continue writing this story. Not to say I don't love writing it, but I am getting virtually no feed back what's so ever and it's really disappointing. Sooo... Ya, well that's it then... PLZ REVIEW! :D


	6. Chapter 6 A Long Drive

AN: I don't have much to say here... Well other than I would appreciate some more reviews. Thx to everyone who reviewed after I posted the last chapter! I really appreciate the support for the story! Speaking of which, lets get back to our friends shall we?...

Lilly's POV

I tried to open my eyes but I was blinded by the sunlight coming through the window. I squinted as I turned away from the window and waited for my vision to adjust. Even before I could fully see my surroundings clearly, I could smell breakfast, and it smelt like heaven. My eyes finally adjusted and I propped myself on my arm as I looked at my surroundings.

I was in Humphrey's bed, which was weird because I couldn't ever remember getting in... In fact the last thing I remember was sitting next to Humphrey... 'Speaking of which, where is he?' I thought to myself. He wasn't in the bed with me and I couldn't see him anywhere in the room from my position. Although I could see Kate, she didn't appear to be awake. Tired as I was, I forced myself to get out of bed and find the source of the heavenly smell. I walked to the tv and noticed a tray stacked with pancakes, a bowl of fruit, and a pitcher of milk next to two empty glasses. I smiled at Humphrey's thoughtfulness and poured myself a glass. I took a sip as I walked over to wake up Kate.

She looked at me with tired, and annoyed eyes as she said " what do you want? And where'd you get that milk?" She pointed at my hand which still held the glass.

"Humphrey got us some food." I say pointing to the tray of food. " I wanted to wait until you woke up before I ate." Kate's face lit up at the mentioning food, as she proceeded to sit up and swing her legs off the bed.

We brought the food to the bed and began to eat. After about ten minutes, we were both full and started wondering where Humphrey was.

"I swear to god if he left us here..." Kate began angrily as she started stabbing one of her pancakes repeatedly.

"He wouldn't do that!" I said defensibly. Maybe a bit too much so, because Kate gave me a suspicious look.

"Has something happened that I don't know about?" I couldn't tell if she was being serious or just messing around with me. I was looking for an answer that wouldn't come across as too defensive again, when Humphrey came back into the hotel room. He was carrying a new suitcase and three large K Mart bags.

"I figured that I should get some new clothes since my old ones are nothing but ash." He explained with a weak and forced smile. His head hung down as he set the bags and suitcase aside. "We should get moving soon. We can't stay in one place for to long." Looking back at us, he said "So I need you two to be ready in an hour. Not to much to ask right?" Neither Kate nor I had any complaints about an hour.

Kate went to the bathroom first, leaving Humphrey and I alone. We just stood their in an awkward silence for a minute, until we heard the shower turn on.

"So," Humphrey began nervously, "don't think that I'm upset or anything, but why were you on my bed last night?"

I couldn't help but blush when he asked this. "Well," I began slowly, "I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and went into the bathroom to think. Then I started to hear noises coming from your bed and went to check it out. You looked like you were having a nightmare so I started rubbing your back till you seemed to be ok. Well, ok that's a lie. I kept rubbing for a little while and must have fallen asleep sitting on your bed." I finished my explanation. "My question is, how did I end up IN your bed?" I said with a small grin on my face.

It was Humphrey's turn to blush. "Well, I woke up sometime last night and found you pretty much sleeping on me." He let out a small chuckle as he continued. "So I got up carefully and tucked you in, then I grabbed a pillow and slept on the floor."

I felt touched that he did that. "You know you could have just put me back in mine and Kate's bed."

He grinned at her. "Yes but I wanted you to be comfortable. Besides, I don't mind sleeping on the floor." He was being honest far as I could tell.

I couldn't think of anything to say so I just sat down on my bed facing the window. Humphrey sat on his bed across from me and our eyes met again. Just like at the McDonalds, I couldn't look away. His eyes were just... amazing is the only word I can think of, and even that's not nearly enough.

Before I realized it, we were leaning towards each other. Our eyes never left the others as we got closer. 'Is this real?' Is all I could think as we were within an inch of each other. My heart was doing summersaults as we key getting closer. Our lips were about to make contact when we heard the bathroom door open.

I blushed and quickly stood up and started toward my suitcase. Humphrey laid back onto his bed with his legs over the side as if he had been like that for a while. Kate came out in a towel as she walked towards her suitcase. She gave me a curious look as she got some clothes out of the suitcase.

'What?' I mouthed silently to her. She just shrugged and went back into the bathroom with her bundle of clothes. As soon as the door shut, Humphrey slowly sat back up. I walked over to him and sat down next to him. He kept looking at the wall in front of him as of his life depended on it. I started to lean into him, placing my head on his chest. He stiffened at first but slowly loosened up again. I looked at him and he was smiling. We just sat there for a few minutes, and I didn't want the moment to end.

Eventually I decided that I should get ready and got up to get dressed. Humphrey seemed a little disappointed but didn't say anything as he watched me walked over to my suitcase. I got a white T-Shirt and jeans, and waited for Kate to get out of the bathroom. After another five minutes, she finally left the bathroom and I hopped in. I took a quick shower and got dressed. Then I brushed my hair into a style I liked. I had my bangs over the left side of my face so that you could only see my right eye. I quickly walked back to my suitcase and grabbed my toothbrush and some toothpaste. I saw Humphrey watching me again and blushed when I remembered what we had almost done a few minutes earlier.

Kate must have seen me blush because she grabbed her toothbrush and followed me into the bathroom and have me another questioning look. I went, shut the bathroom door, and looked at her. "What?" I asked impatiently.

"What happened between you and Humphrey? I can see that something's up." She sat on the counter as she started to brush her teeth and continued look at me suspiciously. I wasn't going to tell her the truth, that mug I knew right away.

I was about to say something when Humphrey called us. "Lilly, Kate, I need you two for a second. It's important."

I gladly left the bathroom with Kate close behind. Humphrey was sitting on his bed with the box from his shed with him. "I think it's time we find out what's in here, wouldn't you agree?" He directed the question towards us both.

We nodded as we sat on our bed facing him. He nervously unlocked the box and opened the lid. His look went from nervousness to confusion, then anger. Turning the box to us, he bent his head in defeat.

Inside the box, was a mess of tools: screwdrivers, a hammer, and a bunch of other things. The only two noticeable things I could see was that it was a foot deep on the inside, more like three inches. Also, under the lid were stickers of sodas, Coke products to be exact. They were lined up just like at a soda fountain at McDonalds or BK.

Kate spoke first. "Well that's just great! You almost get shot over a bunch of lousy tools! What was the point of getting the box from your house if you grabbed the wrong one?!" Her voice started soft but got louder until she ended up yelling the last sentence. Humphrey seemed to be holding in a lot of rage by the time Kate was done. He got up and calmly walked to the window.

Kate might have started yelling again if I hadn't stepped in. "Wait! Look at this." I said as I tipped over the box and emptied the contents onto the bed. I tipped the box again so that it was right side up again. Under each soda sticker was a small button, very easy to miss if you weren't looking very carefully. As Humphrey came back to the bed, I pushed the button under the Sprite sticker... Nothing happened. Disappointed, I looked at Kate and Humphrey waiting for someone to spit out an idea.

Humphrey's eyes seemed to light up as he turned the box back to him. He started to push the buttons, seemingly in an order of some kind. All of a sudden, the "bottom" of the inside of the box popped up. Humphrey picked it up to reveal the rest of the box.

Inside was a picture of a tall redhead in a long coat, next to that was a letter which I assumed was from Humphrey's dad. There were also small rectangular, black bundles, all about two inches high, filling in the rest of the box.

Humphrey picked up and opened the letter and began to read. Kate and I took the liberty of finding out what was in the black bundles. Using my nails, I tore open one and stared at it in awe. It was filled with hundred dollar bills. Kate gave me a look which I interpreted as she found the same thing. I looked back at Humphrey who had a grim look on his face.

Then he picked up the picture, and began to study it intently. He looked back at us as he set the picture down. "His name is Garth. My father says I need to find him. Evidently, he can tell us more about what's going on. He can also provide shelter, food... and also training... What do you guys think?" When he looked at us, I could see that he wasn't sure of what to do.

"I'm not so sure." Kate began hesitantly. "We don't even know this guy. How do we know if we can trust him?"

Humphrey seemed slightly agitated at this as he said "My father knew him, if he trusted this Garth guy, then I know we can too." He looked directly at Kate, "You disagree?" His stare and tone of voice were daring her to say yes.

After a few moments of silence Kate finally spoke. "I guess not. Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine." Humphrey was straining to keep his anger in check. "Just don't do it again... Got it?" Kate just nodded in agreement.

We all seemed to have a silent agreement and began to pack up. Humphrey began to place his clothes in his suitcase, as Kate and I got on some tennis shoes and put our suitcases by the door. We sat in silence until Humphrey finished packing.

As the three of us left the hotel, I kept waiting for something to happen. After last night, it didn't seem possible that something bad wouldn't happen to ruin our already fragile future.

After packing our small amount of possessions into our van, we left the hotel, headed for Garth's address.

We were headed to somewhere in the U.S. West Virginia to be exact. Although I had never been in the U.S. before, it almost felt like home. We past through Buffalo NY, then Erie Pennsylvania. That's where we turned south and headed to Pittsburg PA. We decided we would stop there considering we had been on the road for well over eight hours straight.

After finding a cheeper hotel, we brought in our stuff and got ready for bed. Once again Kate claimed the bathroom first, I second, and Humphrey last. Humphrey offered to sleep on the floor so that I could have a bed to myself. I told him no but he eventually convinced me, so I took the second bed. We all fell asleep quickly and deeply, and didn't wake up till around nine o'clock the next morning.

AN: hey guys sorry that I haven't posted a cheater in a while so here you go. Plz review! Till next time.


	7. Chapter 7: A Breakdown And A Secret

Humphrey's POV

I woke up to hear the sink running in the bathroom. The digital clock said it was about 5:47 AM. Noticing that Kate was still asleep, I knew that it was Lilly before I saw her. She had left the door wide open so I looked in. She was sitting on the sink with her back to me. At first I thought she was brushing her teeth or something, but then I heard a noise above the noise of the faucet... Sobbing. I looked closer and saw she was slightly shaking. I almost walked away so I didn't invade her privacy... Almost. Instead, I walked up to her, and slowly put my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened at first, as she attempted to stop her tears, and tried to push me away slightly.

"It's ok to cry, Lilly," I said as soothingly as I could. "just let it all out. Don't worry, I'm here for you." She stopped trying push me away, and started to lean into me as her crying resumed.

Her head was against my chest as I stated to rub her shoulder. Her arms went around my waist as she broke down further, her face buried into me. I continued soothing her while she cried. Although her tears soon soaked my shirt, I didn't care. After about fifteen minutes of being in this position, she stopped sobbing and gradually sat back up, supporting herself. She turned turned and looked at me with her perfect, violet eyes still watery. As I gazed into her eyes, I gently took a small washcloth off the towel rack, and began to wipe away the tears. All the while, never letting my eyes off hers. When I was finished, I noticed one stray tear still falling. I used my right hand to cup her chin as I wiped it gently away with my thumb.

"Any time that you need someone to lean on, when you can't hold everything in anymore, come to me." I said with every bit of sincerity in my body, never removing my hand. "I will always be there for you. Never, will I choose something, or someone over you." I finished with a close. I slowly leaned toward and kissed her forehead gently. She looked back at me and nodded. I took her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

As I left the bathroom, Lilly spoke. "Thank you Humphrey..." Her voice was still hoarse from crying.

Looking back, I gave her an understanding smile as I quietly shut the door, not wanting to wake up Kate. As I looked back at the beds, I froze. Kate was sitting on her bed, completely dressed for the day, staring at me with a look on her face. I couldn't tell if it was anger or curiosity so I decided to ask. "Uh, Kate? What's wrong?" Although I could take a good guess, I wanted to hear it from her before I said it aloud.

"I saw you and Lilly this morning. What happened to have her cry like that? I've never seen her break down that bad." I could tell she possibly thought I made Lilly cry.

After sitting down on Lilly's bed, I looked at her and began to explain what happened. Once I had finished my story, she looked at me with a look of the deepest respect. "I appreciate what you did Humphrey. Most of the guys we know wouldn't have done that and it speaks a lot about who you are." She was struggling with the words as if she was forced. They flowed smoothly, so much that I knew she meant what she said. We sat in silence for a minute and Kate was about to say something, but Lilly came out if the bathroom, so she didn't.

Lilly's POV

After my mental breakdown, I managed to clean myself up decent enough so it looked like nothing had happened. I left the bathroom to see Kate and Humphrey: it looked like they had been talking, but they had stopped when they noticed me. "Morning guys!" I said, putting on a half true smile as I tried to sound cheery. "What's a... Going on?"

Kate looked at Humphrey then back at me. "I saw what happened this morning." She motioned to Humphrey with her hand. "I had him tell me when he came back out here. I only want to know one thing Lilly, what's wrong?" She gave me a look mixed with worry, and with love.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I sat down on the foot of her bed. "Well" I began slowly, "it wasn't just one thing. Everything that's happened in the past two days has put us under a lot of stress. I guess that it all became to much..." Kate just nodded her head as she pulled me into a knowing and loving hug. Humphrey, though, he just looked at me with a frown on his face. He could defiantly tell that I hadn't shared the entire truth. As I broke the hug, I looked into his deep blue eyes. As they had in McDonalds, they seemed to shift from blue to an emerald green. His words from earlier kept replaying in my mind. "I will always be there for you..."

"GUYS!" Our trance was broken by Kate's yell. "Finally!" She said as Humphrey and I looked at her. "You two were just staring at each other for two minutes! I knew something was going on!" She had a small grin on her face.

I knew I was blushing and I bet Humphrey was, too. We just sat there in an almost silence: we could hear the sounds of the city outside our second story window. Humphrey coughed as he got up. "We should leave soon if we want to make it to Garth in good time." He started to pick up his suitcase and move it towards the door.

I started to think about something and asked Humphrey to get out of the room for a second.

"Why?" "I just need to talk to Kate about something." He just gave me a puzzled expression. "You know... Girl stuff?" His eyes lit up with understanding as he took one of the two room keys and left the room.

Even Kate had a puzzled look as she studied me intently. "What did you need to talk about?"

"We need to give it to him." I said, referring to his fathers gun Winston had given us. Kate shook her head. Then started to say something but I cut her off. "It's not fair to him. He's told us everything and we haven't even given him that."

"I guess your right... But how do give it to him without him thinking we don't trust him?" I was about to answer but a thought stopped me.

"Wait... You do trust him don't you?" I can't honestly say I was shocked when Kate said no, but it did surprise me a little.

I had reach a decision and didn't care what Kate would say about it. I was going to give Humphrey the gun.

I dropped the subject so I wouldn't raise suspicion. As Humphrey came out of the bathroom, I once again found myself watching him. His grey hair short but long enough to style, and was currently spiked in the front. He had on a Linkin Park T-Shirt and blue jeans with a pair of rugged boots. I walked over to my suitcase a started to get out the black box that held his dads pistol. Kate noticed and started to say something with a look of anger, but stopped when I glared at her.

I walked up to Humphrey without looking him in the eyes and handed him the black box. He took it with a look of questioning as he looked back and forth between Kate and I. He sat on the bed closest to the window and looked at the box carefully. Kate and I just stared in silence, both knowing that he would be upset once he opens the box.

His body was relaxed as he started to open it. That changed as soon as he saw what was inside...

Humphrey's POV:

Lilly handed me a small black box about a foot long and wide but 5 inches deep. She wouldn't meet my eyes as she just stood by the tv. I looked at Kate and she wouldn't meet my eyes either, just continued to sit on her bed. I took the box to the bed by the window and sat with my back to the girls, facing the window. I started to study the box before I opened it and noticed that it was much heavier than it looked. That, and that I could hear an object moving around inside.

As I opened the latches on the side, I looked inside the box and my body stiffened so suddenly that I made the bed shake for a moment. Inside was: a holstered pistol, a spare clip, a letter... And a picture of my father.

AN: sorry I haven't updated in a while. I am no longer able to take my iPod to school, which is where I was typing most of each chapter. This has been slowing me down a lot. Anyway thanks for the support and I appreciate everyone who has kept reading. Side note: between this chapter and the last, I have turned 17! Ya me! :D well till next time! No wait! If anyone has any OC's that you want to be in my story, PM me or leave a review so we can talk about it. I will almost certainly use any character unless I have already chosen to many to add more. As always, plz review! It's makes me feel good about the story and helps me continue it! Till next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8: More Secrets

Chapter 8

AN: ok so I have a great idea for the story but I REALLY need some people to send in their OC's. they will become some pretty main characters. I need at least two guys and one girl. Note: At LEAST. If I get three or four of either guy or girl, I will use as many as I see fit. Back on topic, once I get those sorted out, I will place them into the story. So ya, you, send me, OC's... Ok? I think this will be a short chapter... Well anyway, Lets get back to the story now...

Humphrey's POV

I couldn't focus as I looked into the box. 'They've been hiding this from me...' Kept repeating in my mind. 'Don't they trust me?...' My hands began to shake slightly as my anger built. All my life people didn't trust me. My three best friends were the only exception to that. I thought that I had earned the trust of these two girls... Maybe I was wrong. I didn't know, all I did know was that I had to keep my composure and not do or say anything rash. The letter was signed on the front with a W. I could only guess that stood for Winston, Kate and Lilly's father. Opening the letter, I confirmed this suspicion.

The letter started:

"Dear Humphrey, if you are reading this, then something has happened to your father, and myself. This letter will give you an explanation to what's going on. If you have met my daughters, then you most likely have a pretty basic idea of what's going on already. This letter will explain more in-depth.

When your father and I first met, it was in a covert operation in Italy, wet work basically. I was working for Great Britain at the time, your father for the United States. My mission was to find and eliminate an undercover terrorist leader currently residing in Italy. It was supposed to be simple: secure a position with a view of his humble home. It was small enough not to draw attention from the Italian authorities. Then take him out whenever he shows himself. It started off without a hitch, my team was in position and ready for action. The only problem, was that we weren't the only ones looking to take this guy out. My team and I were staked out for five hours before we caught sight of our target. As I lined up my shot, all hell broke lose in that house.

Your father was a member of the seals, I forget which team but that's not important. To wrap this up quick, your father and his team stormed the house and captured our target. In a last ditch attempt to complete the mission, I took a shot. Somehow your father had figured out we were here and tackled my target; my bullet almost hit him in the process. Any way, we got out of the area as fast as possible, but I was separated from my team. I started heading toward the secondary extraction point, but I met with opposition. A group of my targets men had found me as they rushed to protect their leader; they proceeded to open fire on my position. After taking out six of them, I started running low on ammo. By the time I ran out, there were still three left. They almost had me but your dads team managed to save me. This was the first time I met your father.

After I was sent back to Britain, I didn't see him for five years; we met again at a building somewhere in southern Russia. I was offered a job and this was the meeting place to discuss whether I would be hired or not. When I got to the building, I could already see four other vehicles parked outside the two-story warehouse. Inside, was a table with six men, and one women sitting around it, as well as eight pistols. This would later become my team, the best squad in the world, whether it be covert, or full scale assaults. Your father was one if these men, as well as my future wife Eve, and Garth.

We all became... mercenaries, if you would, for a company called: Stainless, and did a lot of things that bettered many parts of the world. That's how everything began, but then we began to question our missions, as the orders didn't make sense anymore. We were told to kill leaders of drug cartels, only to find out that they were really a senator or diplomat from someplace. Our contractors were trying to get us to start wars for profit.

Your father, Garth, Eve, and myself managed to fake our deaths during a mission that went bad and escaped clean. Or so we thought. The simple fact that you are reading this means that something has happened to your father and most likely myself as well. You need to find Garth, he is the only one that can help you now. This pistol is the very one that was I front of your father on the table the day we became mercs, take it and use it well.

I only have one favor to ask of you. Tell my girls that their mother and I love them, and can never begin to express the guilt we feel at leaving our mistakes on their shoulders. We're (Eve, your father, and I) can never make it up to all of you, and for that we are sorry.

With deep regrets- Winston

Ps: take care of my girls...

End letter.

As I stared at the paper I could feel my hands start to shake. After sitting on the bed for ten minutes, I was able to get myself under control. Setting down the paper, I reached for my fathers pistol. Popping out the clip, noticed it was empty. I picked up the spare and shoved it into the gun, then cocked it. I folded the letter and put it in my pocket, then stood up and looked at the girls. Sighing, I walked to the window and my blood turned to ice.

Outside was the same man that had shot at me at my house. He noticed me and smiled as he started walking toward the hotel. Gaining control of my body, I ran to my suitcase and threw everything into it that we owned. I threw my pistol as well but thought better of it and holstered it, then strapped on the holster. It went around my shoulders and had the gun resting between my arm and stomach. It fit perfectly and wasn't uncomfortable at all.

After thirty seconds of this mad dash I finally remember the girls.

Lilly's POV

Kate and I just sat in silence as Humphrey read the letter. We didn't know what it said so we only had a faint idea of what his reaction might be. When he stood up, I thought he was going to just walk out of the room. Instead, he walked toward the window. As soon as he got there his body stiffened more so than before, if that was even possible. Sprinting to his suitcase, he started throwing anything that belonged to us into it. He almost put his pistol in as well but started to strap it to himself instead.

After a few moments, he looked up at me. In his eyes was a raw kind of fear that an animal gets when it's back into a corner... and it knows it can't get away. Running towards the window, I threw back the curtains and could only see a man in a trench coat coming towards the building. He was looking right at me...

My eyes grew wide with fear and understanding as a hand roughly pulled me away from the window. Looking back at Kate and Humphrey I realized something... The only way we were getting out of here was a fight.

Humphrey's POV

"Can either of you use a gun?" I urgently asked Kate and Lilly. Kate shook her head but Lilly slightly nodded, a determined expression on her face. She walked to her suitcase and after some fumbling around, pulled out a standard Beretta M9. She loaded and cocked it as she walked to the door with her suitcase. Turning back, she gave me an "I'm ready when you are face". I nodded and looked at Kate who was also holding an M9 but was shaking from fear. Grabbing her suitcase, she stood by her bed and tried to calm herself down. Pulling out my own pistol, a full auto 93R, I walked towards the door and Lilly... Then Lilly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and I was thrown backwards.

All I could hear was a loud ringing, exactly like how movies portray it. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the door had been blown apart. Kate was sitting between the two beds screaming something at me, but I couldn't hear her... She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead but didn't seem to notice. Reaching for my left ear, I noticed a warm wet feeling... blood.

I managed to stand up, pistol still in hand, as a man in what looked like a swat uniform came into the door. I pulled up my arm and leveled my gun at his chest... and pulled the trigger...

AN: yay! Doesn't everyone just love cliff hangers? I know I know: no one does. :D the next chapter is going to be destruction, hell on earth... and possibly heartbreak! Just a wonderful combination ya? As I said in the above AN, I need some people's OC's. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I may go back and change details in Winston's letter but for now I will leave it as it is. Also: thank you to everyone who had kept reading my story! Plz review!


	9. Chapter 9: An Old Enemy An Older Friend

Chapter 9

Unknown POV

My team and I piled out of the ventered the building through the back. Eventually, we made it to the targets room on I second floor. Moving towards the door, I placed a breaching charge on the door.

Getting into position, my superior gave me the go ahead and I blew the door. I entered the room and swung my M4A1 around the room. The first thing I see is a girl knocked out on the floor. She appears to be late teens early twenties and I couldn't see anyone else. She was bleeding from a lot of small cuts along her body, as well as a large gash on her left shoulder. Shouldering my rife, I carefully picked her up and got her out of the room.

Smith took my place and entered the room once I had gotten out of the way. I got the girl about ten feet from the door and started to dress her wounds. I heard gunshots and Smiths body fell through the door way, dead or unconscious I couldn't tell. I had my orders so I turned away and kept my focus on the girl. I had her in a sitting position against the wall opposite of the door I blew up.

Taking off my helmet and mask, I continued my work. Managing to stop the biggest gash from bleeding further, I try to get the girl to wake up. I barely notice that the gunshots have stopped, but am too focused to turn and look myself.

Finally the girl starts to wake up. "Hey, can you hear me?" I ask. Her eyes are looking around slowly, almost as if in slow-mo. She try's to say something but it just comes out as senseless mumbles. Looking back towards the hotel room, she manages to say one thing: "Humphrey..." Then she passed out again. I was about to move her again, but I felt cold metal against my neck. "Don't move... And I might not blow your head off..."

Kate's POV

I was lucky. When the door exploded, I had enough time to get most of my body behind the bed. A piece of shrapnel cut my head pretty good, but I didn't notice because I saw Humphrey laying on the floor, and Lilly no where to be found. I started yelling at Humphrey. Telling him to get up, move, or anything just so I know he is still alive. After a few seconds that seem like hours, he stirred and looked at me, still yelling at him. He got up and managed to point his gun at the remains of the door. He fired two shots at something then dove for the beds as return fire came at him.

"Stay here ok?!" He yelled at me. I nodded my head while he turned back to the door and fired another shot. I held my gun while I laid against my bed facing the window. I couldn't stop shaking.

Humphrey's POV

Firing two shots into the mans chest, I dove for the bed and landed beside Kate before his friends could hit me. "Stay here ok?!" I yelled at Kate. Not even waiting for her answer, I popped over the side of the bed and shot again. Gun leveled at the door, I approached the hallway. Seeing a piece of a broken mirror, I picked it up and used it to survey the hallway. To the left, were three men who were preparing to attack me again. To the right was a solider leaning over a body. Most likely a civilian caught in the cross fire. Picking up a piece of the door, I threw it down the hallway where it received a shot before the men realized that they might hit their partner. Taking advantage of this I swung the right half of my body out into the uhallway, opening fire as I fell to the floor. Completely caught off guard, all three men took enough shots to bring them down. Running to them, I stripped one of his M4A1 and his ammo.

I turned back towards the last man and approached him. About six feet away, I shouldered my new rifle and brought out my pistol. Then I took a closer look at who he was tending... My blood froze when she looked into my eyes and said "Humphrey..." Then she passed out. The man next to her looked like he was going to wake her so I pressed my pistol into the back of his neck. "Don't move... And I might not blow your head off." He stiffened at feeling of my gun against his skin. He had blonde hair and seemed of average height although I wasn't sure because he was crouched. Keeping the gun at the back of his neck, I grabbed his combat knife with my left hand. Cutting his rifle loose, I kicked it away. "Stand up slowly, hands raised." He complied without complaint. I backed up a little before telling him to turn around.

Unknown POV

I wasn't surprised being told to turn around, in fact I knew he was gonna say it. As I faced my... My what? Target? Enemy? Foe? I'm not sure what to call him, Then his eyes grew wide as he lowered and holstered his gun. Taking my chance, I grabbed his arm and twisted him so he was touching the back of his neck; then I slammed him into the wall. He didn't even struggle as I pressed his face against the wall.

"Never lower your weapon in front of your enemy." I told him. "Now tell me, why the hell do my employers want to catch you? Hm?"

He looked at me and said, "I'm not gonna say anything until you answer me one question..." A grin appeared on his face.

"And that might be?" I wasn't sure what kind of tick he had up his sleeve but I wasn't gonna take a chance.

"What are you doing here Jeremy?" His grin getting wider.

As I released him, I took a step back and took a closer look. I saw something familiar about his features: the grey hair, the ever changing color of his eyes. Then I started to think what what the girl had called him... Humphrey... I knew the name but I couldn't place where I had heard it before.

Then it hit me like a freight train. We were in middle school together! We were good friends at the time until my parents and I moved to the states. I was in eighth grade when he was in sixth. I kept him from being bullied when kids tried to take advantage of his small size. I was an older brother figure in his life. Before I could move, he embraced me in a brotherly hug.

With a grin on my face I say " it's good to see ya little dude!" hugging him back. We step back and take a second to inspect each other. Me in my body armor and him in a plain grey t-shirt and jeans. It took me a second to realize something. " We'll you finally did it little dude."

"Oh ya? What's that?" He questioned.

Looking up at him slightly, I answered. "Your finally taller than me!" Confused, he looked at me until he realized I was right. Smiling, he gripped my hand and shook it. "Looks like I did." He opened his mouth to say more but we heard a groan. Looking to my right I saw the girl starting to stir again.

Kneeling down, I pulled back one of her eyelids and looked at her pupils. "We need to get her to a hospital." I started going over my briefing in my head, then I remembered something. "Where's the other girl?"

Humphrey looked back at the room before he took off to find her. My attention back at the wounded girl, I felt her forehead before I gently picked her up and started towards the room Humphrey entered. As I approached the door I could hear voices.

" ... him alright? Just believe me ok? He's an old friend and he wouldn't do anything against us now that he knows who we are. " "how can you be sure though?" I heard a female voice questioned. "Just trust me and trust HIM ALRIGHT?!" "Fine... But I don't have to like it..."

I choose this moment to walk in. Humphrey and the girl he was talking to looked at me immediately. The girls face that had been bright red turned to milk white in less than a second.

"WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!" The girl screamed. She jumped up and started running towards me with fists raised but was stopped short. Humphrey stepped between us and grabbed her gently. Still yelling and looking at me, she tried to get free of Humphrey's grasp. He turned to me and nodded, I nodded back a thank you.

Laying the girl on the bed, I left the room and grabbed a duffle bag that was in the hallway. Inside were medical supplies: band aids, pain killers, and other things. When I came back in, the other girl had calmed down, and Humphrey was talking gently to the wounded girl who had somewhat woken up.

"Humphrey..." She said with a small sad grin.

"Shhh. Don't talk, Jeremy is going to fix you up ok?" He put on his best trust me face.

"Humphrey" I cut into the conversation before it got any worse. I could tell what line of thinking the girl was thinking before she said anything. She thought she was going to die. I wasn't about to let that happen. "I need you to help me. Your not going to like it but you have to listen to me alright?" He looked at me and slowly nodded. A grim look on his face, he placed himself next to the girl. "Before we continue, what's her name?"

"It's Lilly..." She answered for herself. Nodding, I said " and hers?" Pointing to the blonde. "I'm Kate"

"Ok, Kate and Lilly." Looking at Humphrey, " hears where you have to listen... I need you to get yourself and Kate out of the room..." His face was of utter shock and disbelief. "When I start working, you will try to stop me." He started protesting but I stopped him. "You know as well as I do that when I start, Lilly will be in pain, no matter what. If you guys are in here, then you are going to try and stop me to ease her pain, which only makes sense. But that's what's going to kill her. Once I start I can't stop. Do you understand that?"

It took me another three agonizing minutes to convince them to leave. As soon as they did, I started working...

Humphrey's POV

I constantly afraid that something what happen to Lilly or that more cops or SWAT would show up. We were outside the room for almost an hour before Jeremy finally came out. He had taken off his bullet proof vest and equipment belt. His hands... Oh God his hands! They were cover in blood, as well as Part of his legs and shirt. He looked at me with a sad expression but slowly smiled and motioned for us to enter.

When I got in the room, I couldn't see anything except Lilly. Her arm was in a makeshift splint and bandaged a lot. She appeared to be sleeping but still had a look of pain on her face. I was about to get closer but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Turning, I saw Jeremy. "We need to leave... Now. She's stable but she needs professional help."

Kate then asked "We'll then why did you try to help? If she needed help you couldn't provide then we should've taken her to the hospital an hour ago!"

Jeremy looked at her with a look of anger and impatience. "if I had, then she would be dead right now." Kate's face paled slightly. "Ya, didn't think about that did you?" She just lowered her head, not offering a response. I started to pick up Lilly but Jeremy stopped me. "Go grab a vest real quick. One for each of you and anything else you can carry."

Nodding, I took one of the girls suitcases and emptied the contents on the floor. I took it into the hallway where I relieved three of the soldiers of their vests and ammo. One of them had an M4A1 and I took that too. When I was done, the suitcase was slightly heavier; even though it had less than before. Coming back into the room, I gave the suitcase to Jeremy who started for the door. I picked up Lilly as gently as I could, her head resting on my shoulder. We headed towards the stairs when the door opened, we were about twelve feet away. I couldn't move as I stared at the man who had walked into the hallway.

The man in the trench coat was standing in in front of me. Pistol at his side, and a grin on his face.

AN: sorry I haven't posted in a while, I been busy with life. Thank you LillyAndMe for Jeremy, and thank you HumphreyLovesKate for submitting two OC's (they will be brought in soon.) I am still taking plot suggestions and OC's. I hope everyone is liking the story, leave a review telling me how I'm doing! One last thing, i will be starting a Halo story soon. I am a die hard Halo fan and have always wanted to write a story for it. whenever i get the first part posted, please give it a shot. Till next chapter- C.


	10. Chapter 10: Wait WHAT!

Chapter 10

Multiple POV

"How have you been my friend?" He said with a grin. He had a Russian accent that had a small mix of the south in it. "Didn't think you would see me so soon, did ya?" Bringing up his pistol, "I'm afraid one of you isn't going to like what I'm about to do." Letting that hang in the air, he indicated for us to move out of his way. Moving to one side of the hallway, we noticed he wasn't pointing at us...

From somewhere behind us, we heard the sounds of someone groaning, and debris being moved. Taking a glance behind us, we saw one of the swat members standing up. He looked at us, then the man in front of us. His eyes went wide with terror as he said "you? No no no it can't be!" His voice became frantic as he backpedaled. "YOUR DEAD!" The man in... You know lets just call him Trench for now. Trench's smile only got wider as he continued pointing the gun at the swat guy. "Did I disappoint you?" With a sneer, "Well I sure hope so." Now with a face of stone, "You have a lot to pay for, you know that?" Moving toward the man, Trench looked at him with malice in his eyes. "My only problems now are that your still alive... and its not my place to kill you..." Everyone looked at Trench with confusion.

Humphrey's POV

Turning to me Trench spoke again. "Never thought I would catch up to you my friend." He was smiling again. "Things could have been a lot worse if you had gotten to your destination."

"What-" "Don't even bother" he started, "all will be explained shortly." Looking back the swat dude, "that man," he stated grimly "is the man that had your families killed."

Kate's voice came out as a hoarse croak. "Wha... What do you mean 'families'? You don't mean..." Trench looked at Kate with eyes full of genuine sadness. "I'm sorry," Trench started, "I knew them well." Jeremy walked over and put his arm around Kate's shoulder as she started to shake. "No. No YOUR LYING!" Tears were streaming down her face as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Jeremy just held her tight as she cried into his shirt.

"Here," Trench said as he put his gun in its holster. "Let me take her." At first I was going to say no, but then I realized that my arms were starting to shake. Reluctantly, I gently put Lilly in Trenches arms. Turning to face the swat guy, I pulled my pistol out of my holster and aimed at his head. "Now, who are you?!" The look of fear left his eyes the second he realized Trench was no longer holding a gun. "Do you think I'm scared of you? Huh?" Now he had a grin. "Let me make you a deal kid, you put down that gun and-" his sentence was cut off by his scream of agony as his kneecap exploded. "Are you scared now?" I said as I blew the smoke rising from the end of my gun, like they do in movies.

Kate's POV

A trio of gunshots awoke me from my misery. Looking around, I figured out a few things. First, was that I was leaning against Jeremy. Second, was that Lilly was being held by Trench (AN: I'm just using the name Trench to make it easier to write. It gets annoying to keep writing "the guy in the trench coat" when I can shorten it. Anyway back to the story...) Third, and most important, was that Humphrey was the only one with a gun. Looking down the hall, I saw a man laying on the ground screaming. A closer look revealed that his right knee had been blown apart, and was barely connecting the two parts of his leg.

Trying not to vomit, I watched as Humphrey walked toward the screaming man with a fire in his eyes. "So," Humphrey said with a coldness about him I didn't think he had, " are we ready to talk now?" The man spit on him. "Go. To. Hell." Humphrey sighed, then said "Wrong answer..." as he blew the other knee apart with another 3-round burst from his pistol. The man didn't even scream as he past out, from blood loss or pain I don't know.

With a face cold as ice, Humphrey put his gun back in its holster and walked toward us. "I can take her now." He said as he approached Trench.

Handing Lilly back Humphrey, Trench went to the swat guy's side. "Much as I respect you not killing him," he said to Humphrey, "mercy can't exist here." He then put one round of his D'eagle into the mans head. The stench of blood was overwhelming so I broke Jeremy's hold and ran for the stairs.

Jeremy's POV

Kate broke free and ran for the stairs. Running after her, I entered the stairwell. She was leaning against the wall heaving her insides up. I came to her side and rubbed her back for a few minutes, till she stopped and wiped her mouth clean. "Thank you..." She said quietly. "Don't mention it." I said with a concerned tone of voice. "You gonna be ok?" She was silent a moment before looking at me and saying "I think so..." We stood in an awkward silence for a minute, then she did something that surprised me a little. Coming to me, she gave me a warm embrace, settling her head on my shoulder. After taking a second to recover, I returned to hug with just as much warmth. Back home, I had never been so thrilled about getting a hug, but something about this one was different. It honestly made me happier then I could ever recall feeling.

All good things must come to an end though, and we broke the embrace. "So..." I started but was cut off by the door opening behind me. Turning around, I saw Trench hold open the door for Humphrey, who was holding Lilly. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how little time she had left.

"Humphrey! We have to get her to the hospital NOW!" I almost yelled. Going as fast as he dared, Humphrey started down the stairs, cradling Lilly in his arms.

Unknown amount of time later, Lilly's POV

I woke up in a blurry white room with tubes all around me. It took me a while to clear my head enough to figure out I was in a hospital bed. As my vision cleared, I noticed several black clad figures standing around me. Armed guards for sure. I started to feel a deep burning in my left shoulder and when I looked at it, I became very confused.

My arm was in some sort of splint, and had red seeping through the many bandages around it. As the heat got worse, I groaned loudly. One of the guards turned his head back in my direction, before he left the room. My head was starting to throb as the pain kept getting more and more persistent. Somewhere far away I could hear a high-pitched beeping getting faster and faster. I could feel someone grab my hand but my vision had already faded to black and I couldn't see who it was. They say when you die, that you will see a light at the end of a tunnel. I never saw the light, or stood in the tunnel. I felt like I was in the presence of someone or something magnificent. I looked around me but I couldn't see anything. Come to think of it, the only real thing I can remember was that presence I had felt around me. As I stood in this... nothingness, I felt like I was hit by a car. I couldn't breathe as I felt it again.

The next thing I knew was that I saw a blinding white light and I heard voices all around me. Trying to calm down, I took in my surroundings. I was still in the hospital room but now there were a few doctors around me. I could see one of them rolling the machine, that shocks your heart, out of the room.

"What's going on?" I asked. Apparently I couldn't speak yet because the doctor closest to me gave me a look of confusion before he said "Shhhhh. Don't try to speak. You just went through something you almost didn't come out of." I sat there confused yet again as I tried to remember what happened.

I remembered Humphrey, Kate, and I about to leave the hotel... Then nothing. I keep hearing voices but I can't identify the speaker or what they're saying.

Eventually, after about an hour or so, I could speak pretty much clearly. "Where's my sister?" Was the first thing I asked the doctor. "It's alright, she fine. She's just waiting in another room with your friend Jeremy, not enough space in here ya know?" At first I was relieved, but then I thought about the name Jeremy... I don't know anyone named Jeremy... I was about to ask but the doctor continued with a grin on his face. "I think someone else wants to see you though..." Moving out of the way, the doctor reviled Humphrey, waiting patiently behind him.

"Humphrey!" I almost yelled and leaned up quickly. Perhaps too fast because I felt some pain in my arm again, not as much as before but enough to make me wince and lean back down. Looking back up, I saw Humphrey standing next to my bed with mixed emotions showing on his face. Studying his face, I noticed that he looked different for some reason.

"It's ok Lilly, I'm not going anywhere." His voice was deeper, and he seemed... Older. He had a few scars on his face, and his face looked like it had been through a lot.

"What happened to you Humphrey?" Sadness creeping into my voice. "How long-" "No... Please don't ask. It doesn't matter now that your awake..." He looked at my with a frown that he tried to turn into a grin, but this only made him seem worse. Letting his head hang low, he started talking shakily. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Lilly..." I noticed tears landing on the bed as he started to shake. His voice cracking, he took my hand in his and continued. "I'm so so sorry!" Completely breaking down, he started sobbing as he placed his head on the bed. I gripped his hand tightly as I turned his face to mine with my other hand. "Humphrey. What. Happened?" Looking me in the eyes, he said "We were attacked. I don't remember all the details, but you got that gash in your arm. We got you to a hospital but you had lost a lot of blood. You went into a coma and this is the first time you've spoken since..."

I took this in. 'Well that explains the way he's changed...' But something in the back of my mind kept nagging at me. "Humphrey, how-" "how's she doing?" A female voice I didn't recognize asked a women that I would guess was mid twenties in age. She had long red hair that came to her shoulders, and was slim with an hourglass figure. I didn't notice what she was wearing, or anything else except for one detail... There was a wedding band on her finger. Looking down at Humphrey's hand I almost fainted.. He also had a wedding band. My throat dry as a desert, "Humphrey... Who's this?" I was praying to any and every god I had heard of that I would get the answer that seemed so obvious. Humphrey looked me in the eyes as he spoke. "This is Courtney... My wife."

Wife... The word echoed in my mind. Wife. I just sat there for a few minutes doing nothing but repeating the word over and over in my mind. Wife... Without thinking I asked the most complete sentence I could muster. "How long..." Humphrey looked at me sadly. "How long have I been out?"

Very slowly, he answered me. "Seven years..."

AN: :D doesn't everyone just love it when I do this?! :P I just wanted to say that I currently have an amazing idea going along with this cliff hanger, but its getting late when I am typing this so I want to go to bed. The next chapter might be a big relief for some of you readers.

Who is Trench I wonder? Hm? Anyone have a guess? If so PM it to me! I think I'm going to reveal it next chapter.

To HLK (HumphreyLovesKate) at least one of your characters MAY be used in the next chapter.

Plz no one hate me for this chapter! All will be resolved! :D

I got nuttin' else to say now so until the next chapter, PEACE!


	11. Chapter 11: A Welcome Relief

Chapter 11

ATTENTION: I have rewriten this chapter because of a MAJOR mistake I made. EastonTheAlpha is NOT the one with the two stories, ItrulyDon'tKnow is. I can't believe I made that mistake but I did. Sorry to everyone whom I misled. Btw thanks to EastonTheAlpha for pointing out my mistake. (Kinda ironic eh?)

Lilly's POV

I woke up in a cold sweat in a dark room. It was a small room, with no windows and one door. There were two chairs next to my bed, both occupied. In the chair at the end of the bed, slept Kate in the arms of some boy. In the chair right next to me, sat Humphrey, or rather laid Humphrey as he seemed to be asleep.

Remembering my dream, I quickly looked at my left arm. My shoulder, not my arm, was bandaged. Sitting up, I slowly moved my arm in circles, testing its mobility. Although it stung mildly, I could move my arm and shoulder freely.

Looking down, i noticed Humphrey's arm was laying across the bed. I scooted closer to Humphrey, I looked at his hand, checking for a ring. There was none. Sighing, I grabbed and squeezed his hand. In his sleep, he gripped mine back. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at me leaning over him.

"Lilly?" He asked quietly. "Ya Humphrey, its me. Who else would I be?" I joked. He stood up so fast that his chair flipped backwards as he practically lunged for me. "LILLY!" He yelled as he bear hugged me. "Humphrey my shoulder!" Thrilled as I was to see him, I didn't want something to happen that would keep me from him longer. As he backed off I said"I'm happy to see you Humphrey but listen, how long have I been out?" No one could've missed the urgency in my voice. He checked his watch then looked at me. "Two days, but trust me, they felt like years." I was instantly relieved. "Tell me about it..." I mumbled quietly. Turning to look into his eyes, which were a calming blue at the moment, I said "Come here for a second." He sat on the bed as I scooted closer to him. "Close your eyes for a second. I have to give you something." With a confused look on his face, Humphrey did as he was told. Leaning up to him, I took his face in my hands and planted a kiss on his lips. He recoiled slightly at first, but only for a second as he returned it. We sat like this until I heard someone snicker. I broke the kiss and turned to my right to see Kate and the boy I didn't know looking at me and Humphrey with grins on their faces. I felt my cheeks go red as I moved away from Humphrey. I saw his cheeks go red as well as he resumed standing next to my bed.

"Hi Lilly!" Kate said. "Your feeling better I see" "hi Kate.." I said, slightly annoyed at being interrupted . Smiling, I looked around and saw no wires or tubes attached to me, so I slowly swung my legs off the bed. "You want me to help you?" Asked Humphrey. I nodded as I positioned my feet on the floor.

Humphrey gently took one of my arms and helped me up. Shakily, I took a few steps as my legs remembered how to walk again. Small as it was, I was able to walk around the room, at first with Humphrey's help, then without. After about ten minutes, I was satisfied that I would be able to walk normally, Humphrey and I sat on my bed. I slowly grabbed his hand as we looked at each other smiling.

Turning to Kate and her friend, "So," i said with an evil grin, "who's this Kate?" Blushing, she quickly answered "This is Jeremy." "Hi Jeremy! I'm Lilly." He nodded, "I know, I fixed up iyour shoulder." "Thanks, and speaking of which, what happened to it anyway?" He turned his head and wouldn't look at me as he spoke. "Well... Eh... Ok I was part of a small team sent to capture you all." He said with a nervous smile, pointing at Kate Humphrey and I. "Oh.." "Heh heh... Yaaaaa... What happened was we blew the door not knowing you were so close to it and ah... That's how you got hurt.." He had a scared look in his eyes that spoke more than his mouth. They said he was scared I was going to be upset or something.

"Ok then." He was definitely surprised. "So your not mad at me or anything?" "Nope, you were doing you job, you weren't trying to blow me up!" I said laughing.

So that's how the next few hours went. Me firing off questions left and right. While Kate, Jeremy, and Humphrey answered them as best they could.

It was starting into the second hour when a man wearing blue jeans and a Linkin Park t-shirt came in. He had ginger red hair and a soul patch of the same color. (For those of you who don't know what that is, look it up. It's a type of beard.) Humphrey stiffened at the sight of him, but almost immediately relaxed. "Hello Garth, so nice of you to drop by..." There was a hint of anger in his voice. Garth looked at him with sad eyes. "I came as soon as I got word she was awake. Listen Humphrey, I know you don't trust me right now, but believe me when I say that it was for your own good." Letting go of my hand, Humphrey stood up and waked over to him. Looking Garth in the eyes, he said "I told you that I don't want to hear or see from you again until I worked all this out in my head." Seemingly unfazed, Garth said "I know what you said, and trust me I would love to do just that and let you live your lives. Unfortunately, that's not the case, much as I know you hate it, you have to suck it up." Humphrey's face was blood red as he came back to sit with me. I leaned into his visibly tense body and he relaxed quickly. "Another reason I'm here, we have to get everyone out and moved to a new location, this one more permanent. Before you start asking Humphrey, no you don't have a choice. Your coming one way or another." Humphrey opened his mouth but I put my hand on his thigh. "Just listen to him ok? For me?" I gave me my best "I'm totally gonna die if you don't say yes" face. He was silent for a minute before slowly nodding his head, though he still shot a dirty look at Garth.

Kate and Jeremy detangled themselves and started for the door, as did Humphrey and I. When he reached the door, Garth stopped. "Oh, and by the way, this is Katy.

AN: hey everyone. I am sorry I haven't posted a chapter in over a month, but I had lost my will to write for a time... Well, that annnnnd I mayhavebeengroundedfrommyiPodbecauseiscrewedup. Now that you all know, that is the cause of my absence. Also I apologize for my VERY short chapter but I figured I should get this up as soon as I got my iPod back that way you all didn't think I got hit by a bus or something lol. To any halo fans out there, I will (hopefully) be completing and posting chapter 1 of my new halo story soon. It doesn't revolve around the MC and Cortana, but rather a marine who faces some really hard choices in some even harder times. Plz give it a shot once its up. To anyone who doesn't play halo, give it a shot anyway lol. Thanks to ItrulyDon'tKnow for keeping my spirt up while I had my iPod taken from me :). By the way, he (ItrulyDon'tKnow) has a really good story for alpha and omega, go check it out! Oh one thing though, it is an M rated story, be that as it may it is has a really really good story to it, and the sequel seems to be holding up to that. This guy is a better author than he gives himself credit for, so go and cheer him on! One last thing: anyone here from ItrulyDon'tKnow for a certain debt, we have been talking, and he said that instead of coming to me for the money, you can post this (iwilldoanythingforpie) as a review for his story and you will be given the money with a 25% increase. ;) thanks everyone!


	12. Chapter 12: Troubling Times

Chapter 12

AN: hey guys, I know that I've been gone forever, but I couldn't think of how to continue the story. Well I fixed that problem. :D now you all deserve a nice long chapter... Well I didn't make one. I was going to but when I got to what is the end of this chapter, I decided to end it there. Hopefully my next chapter will be much longer.

Also, a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine past away... His name was Brian (but everyone called him Viking because of his PS3 name), he was 60 some years old, (he never told me exactly) and died of a heart attack. I ask that everyone pray for his family.

As always, I love reviews and love if when you all tell me your opinions. If you love the story, great! Leave a review. If you hate it, leave a review saying why. Thanks to all my faithful readers!

Jeremy's POV

Katy (AN: her name will be pronounced as cat-e because i feel kait-e sounds to close to Kate.) had dark blonde hair that was in a bun and deep amber eyes that seemed to lock right with mine. I swear she grinned until she noticed Kate on my lap glaring at her. Katy wore a pink top, blue jeans, and her shoulders were slouched like she had just woken up. Looking at Garth, "These those newbies you were talkin' 'bout?" She had a small amount of a country slang when she spoke. Garth turned to her as a small grin appeared on his face. "Happy to see you too. And yes, they are the newbies. I was just introducing you." He turned back to us smiling, "Katy is our main DI here at base. Jeremy, you are probably the most familiar with what that means and what happens next."

I groaned outwardly as my brain realized what he was saying...

3 months later...

For the past 3 months, we had gotten to know Katy much better... Like how she would push you till you puke and then make sure that you puke again before your done. If you have ever seen those videos on the USMC training and stuff, you get a BASIC idea of what we went through. Needless to say, a living hell of constant exercise and training.

"Last day..." Humphrey said to me from his top bunk. We were the only two in the men's barracks, a long building that resembled an over turned boat, with a row of bunks on each side of the walkway. Leaning over the side, he looked at me in the pitch black darkness. In the middle of the first month, we went through training to see better in darkness... We spent three days in a building with no lights or windows after as a test of our skills. Humphrey and Kate had the best scores that week. So I had no doubts that he could see me clear as day while I could just make out his general features. "What do you think our first job will be?" He questioned. "We won't be in some assault force I think. More likely a covert op."

I stifled a chuckle at his comment. While Humphrey was worried about our first assignment, all I was concerned about was seeing Kate again. Once a month, we were aloud to see each other. They had separated the guys and girls, not because of different training, but to prevent "distractions". Of course we, Humphrey, Lilly, Kate, and I were upset about it at first, but it truly helped keep us focused. "What about Lilly?" I asked him?

His face became nervous, almost scared. He began to chew on his lip as he pondered the question, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I don't know..." He began almost sadly, all the happiness gone from his face.

I scrunched up my face at what he said, thinking deeply before I asked him what he meant. "What do you me-" I couldn't complete my sentence before I was thrown to the ground and deafened. I was able to catch a glimpse of orange before my head hit the ground and knocked me out.

When I came to, I could smell smoke and I could barely see. Instinct and training took over as I flipped onto my stomach and tried to figure out what happened. Most of the bunks had fallen over, in a circle around the now huge crater that was the barracks. I immediately remembered Humphrey as i hopped to a crouched position. My head swiveled in a 360 trying to find him. When I did, my heart sank. Humphrey was under one of the bunks, his knee pinned between two bars that had melted during the explosion, and now cooled. He was trapped and I didn't have the equipment to save him... Yet.

Running to him, I jumped and crouched to avoid all of the debris caused by the explosion. When I reached him I checked his pulse and was relived to find he still had one. Bringing my ear to his mouth, I listened for a breath, a whisper, anything to tell me he wasn't gone. I sat there for what felt like hours, siting on my knees... Waiting...

I took this moment to turn and look out of the gaping hole in the barracks. My blood turned to ice at what I saw... The female barracks, was nothing more than a pile of ashes. The one thing I wanted to live for, to fight and die for... Was gone... Too heart broken to even cry, I just looked at Humphrey's limp body.

When I finally heard something, all I felt... Was heat... Like my veins were full of lava, and only made hotter by the emptiness I felt... Humphrey still hadn't moved, but someone behind me did, stepping on broken glass and shrapnel.

"... Live one sir." The man said, then more silence, that damned silence. "Understood sir." The next noise made my blood turn to ice... The sound of a rifle cocking, the last sound many hear before they die...

But I wasn't going to die. I was going to make sure I took every last one of the people who did this with me first.

I became aware that he had put the guns barrel against my head... Rage is a beautiful feeling, did you know that? I found that out in that moment. I started to laugh. An inhuman laugh that only those balancing on the brink of insanity know. I felt the gun pull away from my head and heard the man step back. Still laughing, I began to stand, slowly for dramatic effect. Turning to look at the man, I can only imagine what he saw. A crazed man looking at you... With a look of pure and utter hatred in his eyes...

Faster than the man could react, I stepped forward and grabbed the barrel of his rifle and pointed it up. As he figured out what happened, he shot a round through the ceiling and yelled at me. After a brief struggle, I wrestled the gun out I his hands and flung it across the room. Without missing a beat, he unsheathed his knife, a mean looking combat knife with a serrated edge. I offered him a grin of insanity as I took a combat stance and said "Well... your move... Friend..." As the man charged, I changed into something... Not me. It was like watching a movie...

I saw the man stab at me and I easily dodged the strike and grabbed his wrist. Spinning so that his arm was over my shoulder, and my back to him, I slammed into him. Then, I bent my knees and pulled him down slightly, his arm still over my shoulder, inner elbow facing the sky... Then I jumped up with all my might... At first, the man didn't even scream. He just stared at his arm, elbow snapped backwards, bone threatening to tear through his jacket. Then he screamed... A horrible scream that to any one else on earth would have made then scream themselves. But not to Jeremy though. In that instance, the mans screams of pain filled him with joy. He was happy that someone felt the pain that he felt inside, but physically. Picking up the knife the man dropped, he walked to him. Crouching next to him, "I can make the pain go away, would you like that?... Hm?" The man had gone quiet, about to slip into unconsciousness. "Oh no you don't." Said Jeremy, as he drove the knife into the mans kneecap. At this, the man came back screaming again. "That's better." Jeremy finished, has he pulled out the knife and drove it into the mans throat. It killed him instantly, ending his suffering. Jeremy picked up the mans rifle and took one last look at Humphrey. "Don't worry little dude..." His whispered more to himself than anyone. "I'll make sure that they pay for this..." With that, he turned and walked through the hole left in the wall...

AN: what is it about me and cliff hangers? I think I'm addicted to them... Can someone tell a doctor? Maybe there's a prescription for it. :)


End file.
